418 Dive Log Australasia JUNE 2026.pdf

time it’s game over for the excited worm. All Cone Snails are venomous, and indeed some of them pose a serious risk to humans. The Geography and Textile Cones have both been implicated in human deaths -the Geography Cone is sometimes referred to as the “Cigarette Snail” due to the (mistaken) belief that once stung, you have just enough time to smoke a last cigarette before you leave the world – in truth you probably have a few hours, and you may well die if medical intervention isn’t forthcoming. If you are lucky, and receive breathing assistance and appropriate medical support, you can survive, but as stated before, at present there is no effective anti-venom available due to the extremely complex nature of the venoms. Basically, picking up a Cone Snail and stuffing it down the front of your wet suit to take it home (this has been documented) for further investigation is not to be recommended. At the end of the day, Cone Snails shouldn’t be thought of as villains of the oceans. They have overcome the potential disadvantage of being slow moving and have evolved into extremely effective predators that deserve our respect and ultimately, our admiration.

Conus sp. from Sydney near a Bubble Shell

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Dive Log Australasia #418 JUNE ’26